diehardtwinsfan

I'll give you 2, but knowing how to fight is much different than using a light sabre. Not to mention Rey's sudden ability to stop Kylo's use of the force. You're talking about someone who was trained from birth and had a falling out eventually. At the very least, he should have been on par with Anakin in terms of skill. Oh, and don't get me started about their inability to identify Luke's location from that map fragment. A P3 processor could have done that in a short time with as much data that was in the fragment, not to mention that they had the rest of the route he took on hand, they would have had a pretty good idea where to look from the get go.

Yeah, she did a great job. One of the better characters in the movie. I wasn't as much of a fan of Fin, though honestly Leah's "Aren't you a little short for a storm trooper" comment was one of the first things that came to mind when I saw him (before he took his mask off).

I think Gibson looks better in the rotation than Milone personally, especially with his K rate increasing. He's definitely tradable, though I think I'd want more than a couple relievers for him.

I'm not sure if we are arguing or not I wasn't really comparing Tommy to Liriano, Boof, or Diamond for that matter. Milone has 600 innings of ML experience saying he can maintain this level of production. Nothing flashy, I know, but he gets the job done. I don't know why it works but it does. What I'm saying though is that someone would be happy to take Milone at a non-guaranteed 3/21 and probably trade some prospects to do it. Take the money saved, go get a really good reliever (might have to add a 4th year in there) and move May into Milone's spot and the team as a whole is better off.

I got to see it today. Enjoyed it, though I'll just say I wasn't terribly impressed with Kylo Ren. Clearly he was someone Luke could have taken care of if he had wanted to but chose not to given that Rey was able to rather quickly able thwart him. That's a pretty big plot hole in my opinion. There are a couple others too. I'll leave the spoilers at that. I'm a bit surprised they didn't borrow from any of the books. I saw a casting for Grand Admiral Thrawn sometime last year/early this year but he wasn't in it at all, neither was Mara Jade I'm speculating here, but I'd be willing to bet that Rey is probably Luke's daughter.... Just a guess. Perhaps we see (or at least hear the back story) of Mara in Episode 8.

Consumers have no bargaining power b/c it's setup that way. Somewhere along the lines we decided that every prescription/doctor appointment/etc. needed to be paid for by insurance paving the way for a setup just like this. The best way to reduce costs in healthcare is to go to a system where consumers have to make those choices, such as who to go see, and how much they want to spend to deal with an issue. It also means that consumers are going to have to weigh their lifestyles (i.e. smoking, drinking, refusing to exercise, etc.) against what it will actually cost them. You get insurance for the expensive things, but those types of policies are historically fairly inexpensive... and it's not accidental that under ACA they were forced to add far more coverage thus making them far more expensive. As long as we operate that healthcare is an entitlement, there will be no incentive to actually control costs. ACA didn't fix that. It won't fix that. At the core is an assumption that we all deserve it. But if you don't think it's possible, I strongly recommend that you look at how Ron Paul managed his practice. He was rather successful doing that type of system on it's own. It's doable. It just means the cash cow comes to an end.

For all the talk about the Royals going all in when they acquired Shields in 2013, it was generally considered a bad move and honestly, it didn't work. They gave up a top 100 prospect for Shields who pitched well for them in 2013 and 2014, only to sign a deal with the Padres in 2015 when they won the WS. I don't have a problem with the Twins going big, but we need some perspective here as well. There was big debate after 2012 in regards to grabbing Grienke or Sanchez (the two big pitchers on the market). Whether they would have signed here, who knows, but let's pretend they would have. Grienke would have pitched well and opted out (per the contract he signed). Sanchez would have been good in 2013 and to a lesser extent 2014 only to see the wheels fall off in 2015 (Hughes was quite a bit better). Either way, we would still be in this very situation except that SP depth would be rather lacking, and I highly doubt we win 83 games this year. I have no problems going big, but my complaint against KC at the time was that they did this too early. They were counting on guys to perform who were not sure things (much like a lot of guys in MN this season). Going big makes a lot more sense when you have that gaping hole at position X with a bunch of good to great young talent surrounding it at other positions, not when there are still a lot more question marks (which there are here). Whether Ryan will do that is certainly a fair criticism. He doesn't strike me as the type to do so, but I also think that we aren't quite ready for said big splash.

and Merry Christmas to you too. Enjoy your holidays.

The more I think about this, what bothers me the most is that this is really a short term decision (and not even a very good one). Milone has 3 years left of arbitration. I don't know the estimates, but I'm guessing his payout looks something like this: 4.5, 7, 10. I think this estimate is on the conservative side, but going year to year, he's basically going to be a Twin for 3/21 or something close to that. 3/21 will get you a heck of a reliever, probably one who is as good as what we think May can do in the pen. Don't get me wrong, 3/21 for a pitcher who has done what Tommy has done is not a bad deal either. It's probably quite tradable given that the cash isn't even guaranteed should something happen. The Twins really could get the best of both worlds. They could trade Tommy for a couple top 150-200 type prospects sitting in the low minors (which given how top heavy their system is at the moment, this would be a good thing), sign a good reliever for the money saved, and let May start. They might even be able to fetch 1 top 100 prospect (though I wouldn't hold my breath on that one). In the end, I think the team is better off now and long term in that scenario. Tommy may not be high demand, but he's good enough that plenty of teams would be very happy to have him in the back of their rotation.

I agree that this probably more a depth thing than anything, but I'm not sure I like it. They have depth. Duffey has options, and with the rotation as currently constructed, he's probably in AAA (which I'm not terribly against personally). Berrios is in the wings, and you have Rogers, Dean, and even possibly Meyer who could come up and start. I think the days of Andrew Albers starting are (fortunately) over, even if Milone gets traded.

He shouldn't need to cut them in half. Even a 20% drop would be pretty significant. Yeah, there will still be a lot out of outs in there, but a few more singles and maybe a couple walks would go a long way towards writing a ticket to Minnesota. I suspect he will be there at some point this year or next.

I suspect that if you looked at the numbers, this would be true of most starters. 30 games and 180 IP averages to 6 innings per start.

Pseudo, there is no free market in healthcare. If there was, you could choose your provider and actually see prices for goods and services. If there was a free market system in healthcare, it would be an individual payer cash based system with a high deductible insuranc e for catastrophic situations. Medical providers would be forced to actually show their prices and compete (something that is not done today). Pharmaceutical providers woudln't be able to charge whatever they wanted for drugs as their prices would look a lot closer to those negotiated insurance rates that you or I cannot access now, as providers wouldn't be able to sell said drugs. It's no accident that people prefering these types of plans saw their rates go up significantely under ACA. The powers that be wanted this, which is why you have minimum requirements that essentially make this less likely.

Sorry Pseudo, I think you're being a tad partisan here (and this comes from someone who loves neither party). Fixing heathcare isn't politically viable because the powers that be have paid for both parties to keep it that way. That, my friend, is problem number 1. There is no way to fix healthcare while keeping cash cow in place for their sponsors, which is why it will not be fixed until both parties are kicked to the curb. Likewise, the healthcare system we have in place IS NOT free market. That, I believe, is one of the big reasons why costs continue to escalate. The system is designed in such a way to keep the costs hidden so that the consumer cannot make a rational decision if they wanted to. There's no true competition, and as such prices are (much like colleges and student loans) set at whatever people want. That isn't the only problem with healthcare, but that's definitely a big one.

Given the following he has here, Seth should have encouraged him to setup an account That said, good luck to him. I do agree that he needs to cut down on the Ks and increase the BBs. If he does that, he's going to be a downright scary major leaguer.

I could get behind that. Outside voice. Though to be clear, he wasn't a good GM in Toronto. It's a GM reclamation project

I have no problem with Milone, but this is a situation where I think he has more value to us in a trade than what he provides in the rotation. I have a tough time believing (and maybe I'm wrong here) that Milone will out perform May if they were both AL starters this season. If that back of the rotation guy is so valuable, we can trade his 3 years of arb for some decent prospects and then take the money we would have spent on him and sign someone like Bastardo to be that back of the pen guy. May goes to the rotation and the team overall is better. Not bad, I might add, for a guy that we got for a Sam Fuld waiver claim. If you don't like that, I have to think you can flip him for a decent reliever. I think the main reason Ryan wants him is depth. I like depth, all teams need it, especially with pitching, but I think at the moment we have plenty of that and need to focus more on some needs. Even without Tommy, one of May, Duffey (options), Nolasco will either be in the pen or in Rochester if there are no injuries. Not to mention you have Berrios waiting in the wings, a potential wild card in Meyer, and two pitchers on the 40 man (Dean and Rogers) who at least from a numbers standpoint appear to be major league ready. I think we are a long way from seeing 4A guys making starts, even if we traded off Milone.

This, I will agree with . Though truthfully, I don't think Liriano wanted to come back. If I remember right, we offered him more money that offseason. Now if we had dumped Gardy and Andy then and brought in Molitor and Allen, we may have had a different out come.

I'm not referring to me. I'm referring to the country as a whole. ACA did nothing but to subsidize an already broken health care system. I really don't have too much of a problem with the idea that everyone should be able to buy insurance. I have huge problems with the fact that it did nothing to fix our broken system. Costs will not go down. They will continue to rise, and now due to some wonderful lobbying, your tax dollars will get funneled directly into the hands of the people responsible for making these unsustainable rate increases. As for student loans, again, nothing was fixed. All the risk has been transferred to the tax payers allowing colleges and universities to keep the gravy train going and continue raising prices for no other reason than that they can. College prices are still rising unsustainably and now the risk is in the tax payers hands. Just as in the medical field, the reasons for the unsustainable increases were never addressed despite the fact that they could have been, but that would eliminated the cash cow for a lot of very wealthy, connected individuals, and we all know that this would never be an option. Perhaps I'm just naïve, but I expect my legislation to actually fix problems, not exacerbate them, and if it isn't going to actually move us towards a solution, then I would much rather there be a stalemate because the alternative only speeds up our bankruptcy. Now that I think of it, perhaps we should all vote for Trump. The one thing he's done quite well in his life is recognize when a company is bankrupt (and hasten it's arrival in many ways) and usher it through it. With the exception of Rand Paul, everyone else will continue to insist nothing is wrong despite the fact that we are only a few years behind the European crisis that is about to boil over.

This is what scares me. I also think you are right. We will pick up guns and fight before we vote in 3rd parties. My fear is that the guns simply end up on party lines. If a major party loses an election due to a 3rd party siphoning off 10-20 percent of the vote, things WILL change, and it won't require people's lives being lost.

You may be an outlier, I honestly don't know, but there were plenty of people asking for Santana both last year and the year prior... Probably more so the year prior when we acquired Hughes and Nolasco (now that I think of it, I'd be willing to bet people used his name in the same category as 'ace'), but I think there's a bit of revisionist history going on if pretend we suddenly didn't want him.

2 months of Francisco Liriano for some guy named Eduardo Escobar and another piece whom we've all forgotten is already looking like a steal. Sure, it's not AJ bad, but a good deal. I suspect Revere for May/Worley will be another one too. He's still making decent trades. He hasn't quite had the blockbusters he's had in the past, though as others have pointed out, teams value said prospects a lot more and won't let the obvious ones go.

yeah, Tiger's move seem odd. They really showed their age last year and they are doubling down in hopes that it was an outlier. I suspect that they will likely be a fixture in last place for quite some time to come.

I see some points that the author makes, but in all honesty, I'm not convinced he's as knowledgeable about the Twins as he'd like. He's writing to his stereotype. The Twins do change, they simply do so slowly. Snail's pace here can be both good and bad. On one end, you let everyone else make the mistakes. On the other, it takes longer to reap the rewards. It's clear from reading in these forums that the Twins are making big changes to the types of talent they are acquiring (going after more K guys for instance) and even being out in front of the pack a bit on some (all those college relievers in the draft the last few years is starting to look very astute). The managerial change is showing a movement towards some of this as well (though to be fair to Gardy, I don't think Molitor would have improved the W/L record THAT much). Bottom line, they change. They do so slowly. I don't have a problem with Ryan being conservative. We screamed for FA pitching and finally got it. Now that FA pitching is blocking good talent. Most organizations aren't going to flush a multi-million dollar investment down the toilet, and the Twins aren't either. Now we get to see WHY it is that TR is a bit conservative. Those were moves we all wanted, but the results have at best been mixed. Bottom line, he has some good points, but I don't think he really put a lot of research into this piece.

I think the problem I have is that when something has gotten done, I personally would have rather had a stalemate. I cannot point to any legislation over the last several decades where I thought it was much needed and a good idea. When things get done, the people get screwed and the only ones benefiting are those folks lining their pockets. I'm not saying that we need to root for stalemates, but there's so much broken in American politics right now that a stalemate is more often than not, the best possible outcome. If you want to fix politics, you need to get the machine out of it. You can start with real term limits, lobbying restrictions, and real campaign finance reform, but no one will touch any of that because it takes power away from those who have bought it.